No Kohli or Bumrah! Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant among 4 Indians in Cricket Australia's Test XI of 2021
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Cricket Australia's Test XI of 2021 includes some big names but has no mention of Virat Kohli or Jasprit Bumrah. Here's the four Indians who made the cut:
The year 2021 is coming to an end. The calendar year saw plenty of action on the 22-yard cricket strip, especially in the purest format of the gentlemen's game. The year saw New Zealand become the first-ever World Test champions whereas many other riveting series was played out in the longest format of the game.
Many big guns made heads turn with their performances whereas some marquee players fell flat. On the other hand, some new faces made a mark in the toughest form of the game with their efforts on the field. Cricket Australia, thus, shared their Test XI for the year 2021, which featured some big names but the likes of Indian Test captain Virat Kohli and ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah found no place.
Cricket.com.au Test team features as many as four Indians, such as Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel. Rohit ended the year being the second-highest run-getter after Joe Root (1,708 runs). Rohit slammed 2 tons and 4 fifties whereas Pant finished with 748 runs, with 1 hundred and as many as five half-centuries. Ashwin is 2021's leading wicket-taker (54 scalps) whereas spin-bowling all-rounder Axar debuted in whites this year and returned with 36 scalps (second-most by an Indian).
The other players in the list are Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne (with 902 runs with 4 centuries and 3 fifties), also named the captain. Joe Root, Fawad Alam and Marnus Labuschagne also made the cut. Labuschagne ended being Australia's top run-getter in Tests (526 runs) whereas Fawad had three triple-figure knocks and two fifties. The rest of the list includes Kyle Jamieson (Player-of-the-Match in WTC final) and Pakistan's pace duo Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi (both among the top 3 wicket-takers in 2021).
Cricket Australia Test XI of 2021: Rohit Sharma, Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Axar Patel, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi